YOUR favorite racecars – 10. Porsche 956/962

Back in January, we ran a story about favorite racecars and asked RACER.com readers to select their top five. Your votes flooded in and, in the end, we had more than 400 different racecars to consider… but 10 clear favorites emerged.

Many of you had found it tricky to narrow your favorites down to just five, yet some of you had a clear No. 1 and no others. And, like ours, many of your selections were ones that fulfilled multiple criteria from a personal point of view – aesthetic beauty, period when you were first becoming addicted to racing, success, livery, piloted by your heroes. We understand, completely!

10. Porsche 956/962

The definitive sports car of its era…and some would argue that the age-related qualifier isn’t necessary. Whether you judge this Porsche masterpiece by its longevity, ubiquity or domination of the most important sports car series in the world, you can make an iron-clad case.

Seven times a 956 or 962 won Le Mans, while 962s prevailed in the Daytona 24 Hours five times and Sebring 12 Hours four times. And that’s just the super enduros. In Europe, 956/962s took a total of 40 World Sports Car wins between 1982 and ’89; in IMSA, there were 54 victories for the 962 between ’84 and ’89. And its domination of the Interserie (European), Supercup (German) and All-Japan Sports Prototype Championship was similarly comprehensive.

Derek Bell, who won Le Mans and Daytona three times each in the 956/962, told RACER: “It was remarkable how good it was, straight out of the box. It wasn’t like a sports car of old: it didn’t roll, and the nose didn’t come up when you accelerated. It was just one of those cars that did everything right.”

The late Bob Wollek, who became the first driver to beat the works 956s with a privateer entry (Joest Racing) at Monza in ’83, once commented: “Sports car racing changed with the 956. You didn’t have to nurse the car through a race, which was a change to what had gone before.”

Porsche’s decision to build customer cars from year two of the 956 program allowed everyone a turn-key racer capable of taking on the werks team. You can argue that its popularity with team owners meant it was bound to dominate the stat books, but let’s flip that argument: these cars only attracted the faith and money of the best privateer owners by being so outlandishly reliable and fast. Those who didn’t use Norbert Singer’s jewel weren’t contenders for outright wins; the situation was that simple.

The 956 was ineligible for IMSA because of the driver’s pedal-box being ahead of the front axle and because the 2.65-liter engine was twin turbo. The 962 cured these problems with a longer wheelbase and a 2.8-liter (later, 3.2-liter) single-turbo unit and it went on and did to the opposition here in America what the 956 had done in Europe.

TOP U.S. sports prototype racing in the mid-’80s, summed up in one photo. Al Holbert's 962 on this occasion – the 1985 Daytona 24 Hours – was beaten…but only by another 962! Holbert shared with Derek Bell and Al Unser Jr. BELOW: The Porsche 956 makes its World Sportscar debut in the 1982 Silverstone 1000km, with Bell and Jacky Ickx. It was defeated more by fuel regs designed to keep Lancia competitive, than by the Italian firm's Michele Alboreto/Riccardo Patrese. A month later, Porsche dominated Le Mans. LAT photos